Launched at Lindon 3-15-13

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool]Lindon Harbor is officially open for boats...and float tubes. Nary an ice cube inside. Some thin rotten sheet ice floating around in the main lake.

Launched my tube for the first time this year about 7:30. Air temp and water temp the same...46. Hmmm? That supposed to mean something?

Zig-Zagged out of the harbor, watching the sonar. Depth averaged between 5 and 5.5 feet...about 2 feet deeper than late last fall. Hope it comes up a lot more before summer.

Didn't see a single fish on the trip across the harbor. No married ones neither. Water is still kinda funky inside. Might take some wind to fluff up the water and make it more fish-friendly.

The surface of the lake was glass. Could see a line of ice a couple of hundred yards to the west. No fish on sonar or hitting the surface...not even an agitated carp. fish desert.

Reached the Bubbleup and noticed that it was bubbling. There was a line of bubbles and water coming in for about a hundred yards or so before the outside (only) marker buoy.

Figured that should be good enough to bring in some whities...and maybe a wallie or two. Figured I'd probably get a bunch more of the dinkster white bass that have been so thick the last year. Figured wrong. Bad news was that I didn't catch any dinksters. Good news was that I got some better ones...from 12 to 14 inches. Mo bettah. Bad news is that I only got six.

I couldn't find any schools of fish along the pipe. The few I caught came one at a time, with time in between each fish. A lot of casts and finesse retrieves for every one I got. Tough. But those larger ones put up a good tussle.

As the slow bite dropped to zilch, I began to change up lures, colors and presentations. I fished small tubes, large grubs, crankbaits and spinners. Nuttin' honey. I coulda quit by 9:30 and it would be good.

Instead, I started dragging some minnows and carp meat around the area...hoping for a cat or a walleye. No love there either. Not a pop.

Then I noticed that the line of ugly green ice was moving closer to shore with the freshening SE breeze. Not wanting to become a ground up Slurpee along the shoreline I motored back inside the harbor. Not even a close call.

Tried fishing several spots that have produced early fish in the past. Naked, barren, zilch. Finally hauled my old carcass out of the water and boogied about noon.
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[fishjon]

I won't be the first guy to tube ut lake this year but I'm leaving right now to try and become the second. Thanks for the report.
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[pa]

Good Day Sir,
Congrats on getting out to enjoy your first trip of this year. My tube left a o dark thirty wake up call for next Tuesday.
Did get out today though for some fly flinging.Got to the Willow early and managed just one. They have really cleaned the place up. Hope we can keep it that way. Anyway good job. My ole toon is due for a facelift I think. Still in the business?
pa
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[PBH]

I hate to admit this, but....





.....tubedude just put a great big on my face!!!
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[high_n_dry]

Great pics / post as always, and a beautiful morning to boot. I think you needed the Kitty Whisperer along to entice the cats to come play or me to come and scare them your way. Glad you made it out as it's certainly seems to have been a very long winter. I'm eager to get out once my stuff at home is taken care of so save me a few. I'm determined to get my first UL Walleye this year.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool]Have your peeps call my peeps.

I'm codgertatin' on something for next Tuesday too. Let's see how Mama Nature plays it.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool]Good luck with your new baby.

Now that you will be a member of the power squadron that will give us even more to "debait".

Glad I could contribute to your personal enjoys.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000FF]Sorry you couldn't make it today. Hope you get everything taken care of on the home front.

Water temp inside the harbor was 46 but as soon as I hit the open lake it dropped. 43 to 44 was about as warm as I found it anywhere else. That is approaching statistical spawning temperature for walleyes...and they may be lining up their dance cards. But it is just a titch cool for cats to be spring-active. I seldom do well until the dial goes over the 50 degree mark. 55 is better but 65 to 70 is gangbusters.

There will be plenty of all species waiting for you when you can get your toon wet again. I'll go out on a limb here and gay-ron-tee you at least one walleye from Utah Lake this year...caught on purpose. But if you fish real hard for white bass you might catch another half dozen on accident.

Long winter? Last year I did not have to put my tube away until early January...and had it back out again the first week of February. This tubeless winter lasted from early December to March 15. Cain't abide that.
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[TopH2O]

[#0000ff]This tubeless winter lasted from early December to March 15. Cain't abide that. [/#0000ff]
You can't see it, but I'm playing my very small violin for you. []

I kinda liked the long ice season. There was more than enough snow to shut down access into Range Creek Canyon which made my winter patrols very easy and allowed me to pursue the perch. Caught some nice Starvation Steelhead for the Masterbuilt smoker and that smoked trout will be nice for a shore lunch this summer.

I'm sure we'll get together at Starvation again soon. I promise my wake will not upset your apple cart...er...Tube, Dude.

Mike
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000FF]I can tolerate you playing that little violin. Used to play the violin myself...until football and girls were invented. Now I just fiddle around.

Glad you don't have a micro banjo. That would scare me.

As you know, I didn't get to fully enjoy the long ice season like you did. Between a long nasty cold, the effects of doing a triple klutz on my icy driveway and other excuses I just didn't get out that much. And when I did come over you had chased away all the fish so the trip was pretty bleak.

Okay, I'm a masochist. So let's DO get together on the soft water at Starvy again this year...more than once. If I am in my tube I promise not to back over you again. Careless of me.

And let me know when you will be in this area for a day or two and we can terrorize some of the finny denizens of our local waters.
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[TopH2O]

Sounds like a plan coming together. I will let you know when I'll be in your neck of the woods. I look forward to fishing with you this spring and summer. I might even have to break out my 32 year old float tube. It's like an Edsel, round and it has a truck tire tube inside. One of the originals. Probably would be a good idea to find a new tire tube. I've been told they don't actually float without some air for bouyancy.

Mike
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[carToon]

Thought I'd add my 16 March scouting report to your Lindon report. Saratoga and Lincoln are open as well.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool]Thanks. I talked to BFTer Hydrofish as I was coming back in at Lindon and he told me about Saratoga Springs. Didn't know about Lincoln. Might be my next launch venue. I hear the wallies callin'.
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[fish_fear_me2]

Glad you got out and got wet just to shake the winter doldrums off. Happy to hear there were a few bigger whities out. Its early so I am sure you find the school next trip. Hopefully the school is how to hang on....
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000FF]I was pleasantly surprised by the size and girth on those few whities I got. But they were foraging in singles...not as a school. I suspect that whenever the schools show up the fish will be smaller.

The ones I took home were all egg-bearing females. Quite a ways from spawning yet. And almost all had food in their tummies. Some of that was identifiable as fathead minnows...the only place around the lake I have found them in predators. I suspect that they are coming down through the standpipe in the cooling pond and that is why there are almost always a few white bass hanging around.

Next launch...Lincoln Beach.
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[WaveWolf]

[#502800]Was that water temperature at 46 degrees where your toes were?[/#502800]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool] Nope. My toes were inside two layers of wool plus neoprene waders. Never did feel chilled. But then I have been accused of being numb at both ends anyway.

The 46 degree water was inside the marina. It dropped as I moved further out and closer to the ice covering. It was 43 around the bubbleup and only 42 as I got close enough to take a pic of the ice.

It can only get better from here. Famous last words.
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[carToon]

around Lincoln, where would you go and what what would you use for Walleye this time of year?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The entire Lincoln Point area is ringed by a rock shelf. And that shelf is very irregular in shape...with long points and deep cuts...with stairstep dropoffs in some areas. In short, it can be great walleye habitat but a lot depends on the water levels during the time they are getting ready to spawn.

As a general rule, the fish come in very close to the rocks to spawn...especially on choppy and windy days or nights. When the sun is high and there is not much chop the fish are more likely to cruise out in deeper water and are harder to find and catch.

There are hundreds of places that have produced fish over the years and they seem to change every year. But there are a few "hot spots" that seem to attract the walleyes every year. Look for them by following the armada of cartop boats...but don't get too close or you might be the one wearing a hook.

When the fish are thick and in the mood you can sometimes score a few right along the dikes of the boat channel...especially along the outside rocky edges and at the points. Since most of the formerly good wading areas are now off limits to the public, except by boat, the only other place to wade and fish is out off the small access turnoff a few hundred yards west of the point on the main road. Many of the regulars hit it often and long when the fish are in. But if you don't know the underwater terrain you better follow them or you could take a swim if you hit a dropoff.

Most walleye regulars fish 3" or 4" plastic grubs, on a light head...1/16 oz. or 1/8 oz. Any heavier and you will be fighting rocks all day. But if you don't snag once in a while you ain't fishing right...or in the right area. Best colors for plastics are chartreuse, white, black, purple or combos of the above. A special favorite is a smoke/chartreuse grub. But any darker color with chartreuse makes a more visible offering that is more easily seen in cold murky water.

Some walleye fans prefer to throw shallow running crankbaits...like the old Thin Fin. It was out of production for a few years but is once again being made. Any dark back with light bottom color will serve to imitate a small white bass or other forage species. Run them low and slow.

During the spawn you will seldom hook one of the larger females...legally. Some are illegally snagged and taken home. Most of the fish you catch will be the smaller but anxious (horny) males. In their excitement they sometimes smack almost anything that gets in their space. Other times...not so much.

The key is to have a game plan with at least two or three alternate spots to try. Hit them throughly before leaving each one. Try different depths, colors and presentations until you are convinced there are no active fish present. You can't catch them where they ain't. But finding them is no guarantee you will catch them. Walleyes are like that.
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[utwalleye]

Hey Pat, is the road to lindon open across the RR tracks way in ?? or do I have to go around ?? thanks
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